Throw Your Arms Around Me
by LisbethDreams
Summary: Elizabeth goes on an adventure, discovering the mysteries surrounding Ewen Keenan and learning more about herself along the way. *Other characters: Ethan, Cassandra, Steve, Dante, Lulu, Cameron, Aiden, Patrick, Robin, Emma, Nikolas, Spencer ...
1. For Spencer

**AN: I decided to publish the first part of this fic today, as a thank you to all my readers. My stories have had over 1,000 hits this month. I've never broken 1,000 before. Thank you! A special thanks goes to my reviewers, your comments are very much appreciated.**

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><p>Elizabeth pulls her coat tight around her and watches Spoon Island get closer. The chilly February air bites her skin, she looks down from the launch into the water and remembers the last time she was on the island.<p>

It was only for a brief time and she wasn't even supposed to be there. Lisa Niles threw her off a charter boat and if it wasn't for her mystery rescuer she would have drowned. Her rescuer dragged her to Spoon Island's shore, he stayed with her for awhile, she thinks, but then he left her to lie on the beach.

Eventually, Damien Spinelli arrived and got her to a launch and to General Hospital. The care there saved her from pneumonia and a few other complications caused by her unexpected swim. Matt likes to tease her and say that she made up the rescuer, but she's knows differently. He was real, is real.

Hopefully, there are no crazy psychos along for this trip and her rescuer wouldn't be needed. An uncomplicated trip is what she needs. She didn't mind being asked to get something from Wyndemere, the place doesn't freak her out as much as it does some people.

The launch pulls up to the pier and she notices another boat tied to it. The man tying the boat up seems kind of familiar. The launch lands and he turns, it's Dr. Keenan.

"Well hello, " he says. "To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"

"What are doing here?" Elizabeth asks as she steps off the launch.

"I rent the place; you didn't know?"

"No, no one told me. I'm sorry, perhaps I should go?"

He steps towards her and gently steers her away from the launch. At the same time he waves the launch away.

"You are welcome here at any time. Come in, out of the cold. We'll get you warm and then you can tell me why you have come to this out of the way place."

Inside Wyndemere, Ewen takes Elizabeth's coat and she nods towards a scarf draped over the couch, "So you don't live alone? Another thing you let me believe."

"This time I can plead not guilty. When you suggested I lived alone I did. Cassandra, my new roommate, is the reason I'm renting Wyndemere."

Elizabeth sits near the fire, "Cassandra, that's a strange name for someone who lives here."

"Really! Why?"

"Cassandra …. Cassadine, the family name of the owner."

"I thought the family name was Davis. At least, I'm renting the place from Ms. Davis."

"Alexis, she's Nikolas' aunt. Nikolas Cassadine is the owner. The painting over the fireplace is of his mother Laura." Elizabeth turns and looks at it. "It's funny, I don't remember it hanging there when Nikolas was here."

Ewen asks, "You know Nikolas Cassadine well?"

Elizabeth pauses for a moment, wondering how much she should to tell him. "He's my ex-husband's brother … and he and I were …. well we were a couple for a short time."

"A couple?"

"It's long story, full of twists and turns. Nikolas is the reason I'm here. He asked if I would look for something Spencer left behind. Spencer is Nikolas' son."

"You're still in close contact with him?"

"Of course, he's family. Spencer is Cameron and Jake's cousin. They Skype frequently, … especially after we lost Jake."

Ewen sits on the couch near Elizabeth and changes the subject from Elizabeth's grief. "Cassandra is my patient. She likes places like this, full of history."

"More of your unorthodox therapy?" Elizabeth looks concerned for a moment, "You aren't, you and she aren't?"

"No, absolutely not. She's just a patient. Actually, she's seeing the caretaker here, Ethan Lovett."

Elizabeth finds herself relieved at his response. "Well, well what a small world. Ethan is also Lucky's brother. Isn't that strange, only a few weeks ago we hadn't even met and now we have all this connections."

Ewen smiles at her, "Life brings people together in mysterious ways."

Elizabeth finds herself smiling back and getting a little lost in his eyes, she stands up and walks towards the door. "I should go upstairs and look in the nursery for Spencer's toy. The launch is expected back," she looks at her watch, "in thirty minutes."

She turns to look at Ewen, now standing, "If that's alright with you?"

"Absolutely, do you mind if I tag along. This place is huge and I haven't explored it all."

"Of course not, it's your place."


	2. A Cassadine Treasure

**Part 2**

Elizabeth leads Ewen down a winding corridor on the second floor of Wyndemere.

"You must really care for the boy, to come here today to get his toy," Ewen asks.

"I love him. I had the time to come today. My Grams has a standing date with my boys, the first Saturday of the month. The boys are blessed to have a great-grandmother who is healthy enough that she wants to spend time with them. She used to watch them more frequently, because I needed the help, and now she misses them. … Ah ha, here's the room!"

Elizabeth opens the last door on the corridor and they enter a beautifully decorated room The walls were covered in paintings of Russian and Greek myths.

Ewen can't help exclaiming on an exhale, "Beautiful", upon seeing a painting of Poseidon.

"Isn't it? We're looking for a small lacquer box. Spencer keeps his treasures in it. We're not allowed to open it though, Spence was clear about that. Not even Cameron gets to take a peak and that's saying something."

Ewen asks, "How did it get left behind?"

"Spence hid it to well and I think at the time, he was pretty upset at leaving his cousins and didn't think about the box until now. We need to find a wall panel with a white rabbit and a man on a sled."

Ewen moves over to a panel on the North wall, "Like this one?"

"That has to be it," Elizabeth answers a little excitedly. "I feel like I'm on a treasure hunt."

She touches a slightly worn spot on the rabbits back and pushes up and to the left. The panel opens and they find the Kholui Lacquer box.

"Are there a lot of these hiding holes around here?"

"It's possible," Elizabeth says, reaching into the wall. "I've got it. Isn't she beautiful?" Elizabeth asks, pointing at the Snow Maiden on the left side of the box. "Although I think I like old man winter, or is it Jack Frost, better." Elizabeth looks a little more closely and shivers.

Ewen whips his suit jacket off and wraps it around her shoulders, "Are you cold, you must come back to the drawing room and get warm by the fire?"

"I'm alright. I was just thinking about another box."

"A box that makes you look like someone is walking over your grave?"

"That's a good descriptions of Helena, someone walking over my grave. At least she wishes she was."

"More secrets?" Ewen asks, directing Elizabeth out of the room.

"No, I can tell you about her. It's just a long story."

"There you are assigning time to things again. It's not a long story if it keeps people interested."

Elizabeth laughs a little, "True, but I do need to pay attention to the time a little bit or I'll miss the launch."

"You said that your grandmother is watching the boys today, is she expecting you soon? Because if not, we can call and cancel the launch. I can take you back later in my boat."

Elizabeth turns at the top of the stairs and looks closely at him, trying to figure out why he's interested in her stories, in her. He catches her eyes with his and all she sees is warmth and caring. She inhales and realizes she's staring. She turns quickly and tips off balance. Ewen reaches one arm around her and pulls her back against him. His arm would be touching her breasts, except for the box.

Elizabeth reaches up with her free hand and clasps his arm, realizing that she's clinging, she lets go, "I'm alright. You can let go, I won't fall."

Ewen pulls her into him again for just a brief second before stepping back giving her more room at the top of the stairs.

Neither talk as they go down the stairs. Elizabeth still feels the sensation of his arms around her and can't help but find it familiar.


	3. Cassandra

**Part 3**

In the foyer, Elizabeth looks at her watch again and is about to speak when her phone rings, she looks and sees that it is Ethan. "Excuse me," she requests of Ewen and steps away to take the call.

"Hello."

"Hey, Liz. I'm on the launch that's coming to get you. It's not going to be on time. It's stalled and we are waiting to be towed back to Port Charles for a repair. I told the pilot that it was OK if we don't return to Spoon Island tonight. That's when he said he was picking up a fare – you. He said they can send another launch, but it will be late. I told him I'd call and tell you, since we know each other."

"Thank you for calling. Do you know how long it will take for the new launch?"

"They think maybe a couple hours."

Elizabeth looks over at Ewen before responding, "Tell them not to worry about me, I have a ride back to the city."

"You do?"

"Yes, Dr. Keenan is here with his boat. He's offered me a ride."

"Ewen, that man just won't leave us alone."

Elizabeth becomes confused, "Leave you alone? Why, would he care...and why did you say we? Never mind, you must be with Cassandra."

Ethan interrupts, "How did you know that?"

Elizabeth turns and gives Ewen an arch look, "I have my ways."

"Don't tell Ewen that Cassandra is with me."

"Ethan, he's with me right now, he heard me talking to you. Next time I see you, you're going to have to tell me everything."

She says goodbye and hangs up the phone. "It's alright isn't it, if I take you up on your offer for a lift?"

Ewen directs her into the drawing room, "I only make offers when I mean them.

"I know it's none of my business but why won't you leave Cassandra and Ethan alone?" Elizabeth asks as she sets down the Kholui Lacquer box. She takes the coat Ewen put around her shoulders off and drapes it over the box. Glancing at it she notices that it is missing a button. "Oh you're missing a button. If you have it I could sew it on for you."

"Thank you, but I fear the button is lost. As for Cassandra, I worry about her. She used to be focused on recovery, since meeting Ethan that has changed. I only worry as her physician. Since it's not a secret, I can tell you that she suffers from amnesia and a fascination with Gothic homes. At least tonight, I know she's with someone who will look after her, if she needs it."

"It sounds like a Georgette Heyer novel."

"Classic romance, with me cast as the villain I suppose."

"I don't think I'd cast you as the villain."

"Thank you."

"But it seems as though Ethan has, possibly Cassandra too?"

"None of that helps with her recovery. Thus my dilemma."

"You take a keen interest in your patients. Like me?"

Ewen leans back and then in towards her before saying, "I've never considered you a patient, just someone who needs a little help."

A small thrill climbs Elizabeth's spine at his words. She can't help but smile and changes the subject. "Have you set-up a studio since you've moved in? I always thought the South West tower had the best light and most pleasing view."

"The most pleasing view is subjective," he eyes her up and down, "but I have to agree about the light."

Elizabeth laughs excitedly, "You set up your studio in the South West tower! I want to see! May I? Will you give me a tour? I promise not to peek at any of your paintings."

Ethan smiles back, "You can see all of my paintings but one. Come along, I'll show you."


	4. Ewen's Paintings

**Part 4**

"Oh it's perfect!" Elizabeth exclaims upon seeing the studio. "I always knew it would be."

The room has windows that go all around letting in light from every direction. It also has the best view of both the wide open sea and of the Port Charles skyline.

"You set the easel up just where I would."

She walks towards it and then steps back embarrassed, a sheet covered painting was resting there; one she's sure she's tried to steel a peek. "I wasn't going to look, honest."

Ewen smiles at her from where he's dominating the doorway. "I know. You've thought a lot about setting up a studio at Wyndemere."

Elizabeth moves to a table full of paints. She plays with the nearest brush. "I've spent a lot of time here over the years, as an outsider looking in and as an invited guest, even a tenant. Lucky and I lived here once, long ago, and more recently, Nikolas offered to make it my home."

"You two were that serious?"

"One of my least proud moments, I hurt both Nikolas and Lucky. Probably Nikolas more, even though you wouldn't know it to talk to him. You see, it was first thought that my son Aiden was Nikolas'. Turns out his grandmother, Helena, was playing her twisted games. Turned out Aiden is Lucky's and poor Nikolas only the uncle."

"You had nothing to do with the misunderstanding around paternity."

"Only that I slept with both of them close enough to cause confusion in the first place."

"Sometimes we get caught up in new emotions and we don't handle things and relationships the way we would in calmer moments."

"Well I paid for the mistake. I've lost them both. Oh Nikolas still tries, but I drove him out of the country. And Lucky well, you've seen some of what Lucky thinks of me." She laughs, "I just realized that I drove Lucky out of the country too. Maxie's right, I am a slut and whore."

"How long has it been since your last relationship?"

"Two years."

Ewen moves into the room, "Two years is a long time to punish yourself for the basic human feeling of sexuality. And you give yourself more credit than is due most people for the actions of others. Nikolas and Lucky left the country of their own accord, even if you were a consideration, you did not force them."

"True, but I also didn't behave in a way to keep either of them." She changes the topic by picking up one of his paintings. "What where you thinking when you painted this?"

Ewen walks over and leans in behind her, looking down at the painting in her hands. "I was thinking of an primary school friend. We were on the swim team together but he was more into bike races."

"You've captured the feeling of speed and movement well. Has he seen it?"

"No, he died the summer before secondary school."

"I'm so sorry to hear that, what happened? … You don't have to tell me."

"I don't mind. It happened a long time ago. He was training for a mountain bike race, somehow his bike slipped on a curve and he fell down the mountain. He was brain dead and in a comma for three months before his parent's took him off life support."

"Were you with him when the accident happened?"

"No, bicycle races were his thing. I was a lifeguard and signed up for surf life saving training. We were supposed to meet up to go surfing after but he never arrived. I went home angry at him for not showing. My mother opened the door when I came home, I could tell she had been crying. She told me what happened and I got angry again. I ran away from the news. I didn't go home for hours, blaming myself the whole time. I'm the one that changed our plans, the one that signed up for training instead of meeting him to go surfing early in the morning. He only took his bike out because of my class."

Elizabeth reached out and grabbed his arm, "It wasn't your fault."

"I know that now, but at the time, I internalized the event. I think that's why I become obsessive about helping my patients. I couldn't help him, I feel that I have to help them."

"Thank you for telling me. It helps me to understand you."

"Am I so hard to understand?"

Elizabeth smiles at and laughs just a little, "You have to admit your methods are very unorthodox."

"But affective."

"And you are kind of absentminded, going places with your shirt buttoned wrong."

He looks down, "Are they wrong now?"

She tugs at his shirt collar, "No. You did very well dressing yourself today, except for the blazer with the missing button."

"Now you are laughing at my expense."

"Absolutely not, I find it charming."

He thinks a bit before answering, "Charming huh? What do you think of men who have the habit of losing their cell phones?"

"You lose your cell phone?"

"All the time."

She laughs again, "You need a keeper."

He looks down at her seriously, "Are you applying for the job?"

She sobers up quickly, "Maybe. But I really must be going now. Grams expects me to pick-up the boys at some point today."

He decides to let her run away for now, "I'll take you, but on one condition. Let me buy you and the boys dinner?"

Elizabeth decides to take a small leap, "Okay."


	5. Another Death at Wyndemere

**Part 5**

It's been three weeks since Elizabeth let Ewen escort her home. She wouldn't call him a feature, not yet, but since then they've met for lunch regularly and gone out on two dates. The second date was her favorite. He took her to his studio at Wyndemere.

He had an easel set-up for her. They spent the hours painting, not talking very often, to intent on the work. He challenged her to try a new style of painting, it was a competition of sorts. The painting was timed, it had to be completed before the end of the date.

She had never before challenged herself in that manner. If anything she has a hard time deciding when a painting was complete. She lives with them forever, never showing them. Ewen set a time period of six hours and suggested oils.

The colors bled and she found herself using the palate knife. Two hours in she realized that she was nowhere near having a completed landscape, so she forced herself to work faster. She stopped thinking and just cut in the paint.

At first she thought the painting lacked depth of color but the energy and tension in the paint more than made up for it. She has to admit, it's now one of her favorites. Ewen wanted to buy it from her, she said no. This one she keeps as inspiration.

She drops the boys at the hospital daycare and hopes she'll run into Ewen this morning. She wants to tell him that she started and finished another painting last night. Her art has gone to new levels, she's trusting her instinct and not second guessing herself. It's liberating.

She still hasn't run into him by lunchtime. She even walked by his office a couple of times; he wasn't there. She knows that he has hospital rounds today and wonders what is keeping him away. She hopes it isn't something to do with Cassandra. Ethan told her that Ewen seems less intent on tracking Cassandra's movements than he used to be.

Maybe he's had an emergency at Shadybrooke, she wonders. She walks to the nurses hub and Steve stops her.

"Elizabeth wait," he says, grabbing hold of her arm. "I know you've been spending time with Dr. Keenan, so I wanted to be the one to tell you."

Elizabeth feels like someone is walking over her grave and interrupts, "Tell me what?"

"I spoke to a police officer who just dropped a woman off at the morgue. She was found dead at Wyndemere."

"Oh my God! Is it Cassandra? Is Ewen alright?"

"Possibly, I didn't ask her name. The officer mentioned that Falconari and Padilla are questioning the man that lived with her."

"That's Ewen, he lives at Wyndemere. I should call him, no he'll be busy right now. I should call Ethan. He is, was, dating Cassandra. Thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome. … Look, Lizzy, I think you shouldn't get involved in this. From what the police officer told me, it doesn't look good for Keenan. He was alone with Cassandra when she was killed."

"Are they certain she was killed? It couldn't have been Ewen. I won't believe it. Maybe she died from natural causes?"

"Only if you consider an 8 inch dagger through the heart a natural cause."

Elizabeth looks resolute, she is trusting her instincts, "That island is huge with multiple hidden caves and passage ways into the house. There is no way to be certain that Ewen and Cassandra were alone. Mysterious things happen on Spoon Island. Ewen didn't kill her."

"I hope you're right Lizzie but do you really need to add this additional stress to your life right now?"

"Steve, I appreciate you're concern, but I am stronger than you think."

Elizabeth walks away from Steve and calls Ewen's cell phone. As expected, he doesn't answer. She leaves a message and requests that he call her as soon as he can. She chooses not to tell him that she knows about Cassandra.

She still hasn't heard from Ewen by the end of her shift and decides to call Dante.

Dante doesn't seem surprised by her call, "You're calling about Dr. Keenan aren't you?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"You're name came up during the interview. Don't worry, he didn't want to involve you but we insisted on knowing who he's involved with."

"I can assure you that Cassandra was only his patient."

"Can you prove it?"

"Well no, but I believe him. Besides Cassandra was seeing Ethan."

"Yeah, Dr. Keenan told us. Look, Elizabeth, you know I can't talk to you about an official investigation, especially when we may need to include you in the questioning."

"Me? Why? I mean of course, if you want a character witness for Ewen I'll give him one."

"I liked the guy too or at least found him helpful as a profiler."

"Liked? That's past tense."

"I have to stay neutral during the investigation."

"Neutral, shouldn't you recuse yourself?"

"Do you really want me too?"

"No, I know you will be fair. Can I ask where he is? Has he been arrested?"

"I can tell you he's at the police station. The prosecuting attorney wants us to handle this with kid gloves because Dr. Keenan has worked on a couple of cases for us. Some I didn't even know about."

"OK, thank you."

"You're coming down to the station aren't you?"

"Yes, just as soon as I drop the boys off at Gram's."


	6. For Ewen

**Part 6**

Elizabeth runs up the steps at the Port Charles Police Department, she doesn't take time to think why she's running, why she cares so very much that Ewen be alright. She only knows that she won't, no can't believe he would kill Cassandra.

As she rounds the corner she sees Dante's desk and Ewen sitting, unshackled, next to it. Relief floods through her. She takes a quick breath in, counts to six, holds it for four and exhales to the count of six, relaxing before making herself known. She takes a quick peak at Ewen, he looks frustrated and tense. His eyes are harder than she's ever seen them, until he catches site of her. Ewen releases an imperceptible sigh and his eyes warm in greeting before getting dark again.

He looks as if he's about to speak to her, so Elizabeth quickly looks away and addresses Dante, "You needed to see me, something about verifying facts."

Dante sits back in his chair before answering, "I wish everyone we 'might' need to interview was as eager to speak to us as you. Since we haven't formerly arrested Ewen, I'll leave the two of you alone to talk."

Elizabeth sits in Dante's vacated chair and says, "Are you alright? Cassandra was stabbed?"

Ewen relaxes a bit and replies, "Thank you for coming but you shouldn't get involved in this mess."

"You're involved which makes me involved. Besides Dante said I 'may' need to be interviewed. How is that not involved?"

Ewen smiles warms briefly, "Good point. From what I can tell Officers Falconeri and Padilla don't think I stabbed Cassandra. They really have no choice but to bring me in, I was at Wyndemere all last night and have no alibi."

"Well that could have been avoided, if you had come over for dinner and after," Elizabeth blushes and her voice trials off as she realizes what she's just said.

Ewen's hand briefly touches her nearby knee and stops her, "I'm not sorry, well I am but things happen as they happen. If I hadn't been there Cassandra would have been totally alone. As it was, after Ethan dropped her off ,we had a good conversation." He gives her a significant look and adds, "Before going our separate ways."

"She was very happy about Ethan but concerned about something. I couldn't get her to tell me what was bothering her. She just kept staring at the portrait of Laura. I wish I could have gotten through to her; all these months of therapy and nothing but a few letters on paper and cryptically calling herself no one."

Elizabeth reaches to cover his hand in comfort. Just then an angry Ethan comes storming into the precinct. Ewen stands as Ethan comes barreling towards him.

"You couldn't stand for her to be happy," Ethan yells. He reaches back to punch Ewen, who doesn't move away. Dante and Ronnie grab hold of Ethan pulling him away before he can get off his punch.

Ewen just looks sadly at Ewen before turning grim and speaking slowly and clearly, "I am sorry for your loss. I did not kill her and fighting amongst ourselves will not help us find who did."

Dante just looks at Ewen in disbelief at his calm before asking Ronnie to take Ethan for questioning. Ronnie can be heard talking to Ethan as they move away, "I'm glad you came. As you were Cassandra's boyfriend, we have to ask you a few questions. And you need to calm down."

"Ronnie can be sort of a hard ass sometimes." He says in way of an apology for Ronnie's rough ways with Ethan. He turns to Ewen and says,"You seem awfully used to being attacked."

"You work in the psych ward, you get used to it. The best thing is to remain calm."

The response comes from Delores, who has just returned from Wyndemere, "Cops get used to it too." She turns to Dante and gives him an update on the forensics investigation at Wyndemere. "Forensics is done with their sweep, they say the occupants can return."

Dante nods towards Ewen, "I've been informed by the District Attorney that we don't have enough to make an arrest right now. You are free to go about your business but you may not leave Port Charles at this time, as you do remain a suspect in an open murder investigation."

Ewen nods, "I understand." He moves to leave and Elizabeth takes his hand to walk out with him.

"I have my car. Do you want to come to my place or should I take you to a hotel? Do you want me to leave you alone?"

His hand tightens around hers, "No. Thank you for being with me." He takes a deep breath of fresh air as the exit the building. "I think I just want to go for a walk."

"Can I drive you someplace?"

"Do you mind coming with me? I feel like talking."

Elizabeth smiles, "Absolutely. Central Park isn't far away."

"Would you mind going to Spoon Island? I need to be near the ocean."

"Are you sure that's where you want to go?"

"I have to go back there at some point. Might as well be now. I don't believe in putting off unpleasant things."

"OK, we'll go to Wyndemere and you can talk. But while I drive us to the wharf, you need to call Alexis Davis. You need an attorney."

He looks away from her, "I have an attorney."


	7. Elizabeth Trusts Her Instincts

**Part 7**

Ewen hesitates at the door to the main gallery, it's where he found Cassandra this morning. He looks back at Elizabeth, "I guess I can call the servants I hired and tell them their services are no longer necessary."

"Will you be leaving Wyndemere then?"

"No, I don't know. I only need a place to paint and sleep, my needs are few. There is no need for servants."

"If only they had arrived earlier, they might help your defense."

"Or they could have been killed too."

"Or that," says Elizabeth, a little disheartened. She puts her hand on his back and reminds him again, "We don't have to do this. You don't have to stay here tonight."

Ewen's response is to push the door open. The room is cold and empty. Fingerprinting dust covers every surface, revealing very few prints. The fireplace is unlighted and books are strewn across the floor, just as they were this morning. He walks into the room and picks up an old leather bound copy.

"Yeats," he says, putting it back on the book shelf. He indicates where the bookcase has been pushed away from the wall a few inches, revealing an open space. "It looks like the police found at least one of the secret passageways.'

Elizabeth turns on a couple of floor lamps and moves further into the room. Her eyes are caught by the blood stained Aubusson Rug. "That will have to get cleaned, unless Nikolas just wants to throw it out."

"Perhaps it should be burned. It might do the world good if this house went up in one large funeral pyre."

"It's true many strange things happen here, but good things happen too. If Nikolas didn't burn the place after Emily was killed here, I doubt he'd want it done now."

Ewen seems to let what she's saying sink in and replies, "Forgive me. I've no right to make judgments about this place. I'm only renting it and besides, it's just a house. Anything evil in it is human born."

"Ewen, as you've told me, you are allowed your emotions. Only a few hours ago you found your patient, dead, in this very room. You are also a possible suspect in her murder. You get to feel angry or sad, or whatever you want."

He moves closer to her. "Do I? Because right now," he stops speaking and moves away. "I need that walk, I'm restless."

They leave the house and walk towards the cliffs. For a long time neither speak. Near the cliff edge, Ewen stops and asks Elizabeth, "Why do you believe in me? You've only known me a short time. As a mother with young children, shouldn't you be running far from me?"

Elizabeth puts her hands in her coat pocket and shrugs her shoulders. She decides to take his question at face value and not as a judgment against her parenting. "I don't know, I just do. I meant what I said when we first met, that you seem familiar. I've known crazies in my life and that's not you. You get angry but it's never very deep, you pull yourself out of it quickly. Some people with that skill have cold dead eyes. It's like, without the anger they are nothing. That's not you. You care and it shows in your eyes."

She decides to tell him a bit more about herself. "I've been kidnapped, locked up and left to die, I've been held at gun point and a very long time ago, I was raped. I've misjudged people and it's come back to bite me. I could be misjudging you, absolutely. I know you have secrets, we all do." She holds up a hand. "I'm not saying you have to tell me all of them now. As for the children, Cameron likes you. He doesn't like everyone. I've learned to trust my kids' reactions to people far more than my own."

He says, "Well then, I hope I don't let Cameron or you down." He takes the hand she holds out and tucks it into his arm as they followed the path to where it forks. One fork goes up to the the top of the cliffs and the other heads down.

She replies, "It's easy, choose not to."

He laughs, a little deprecatingly, before looking into her eyes, "You're right I do have secrets and killing Cassandra is not one of them."

"Good. Now tell me about this attorney of yours because you might want to consider Alexis Davis. She is one of the best defense attorneys around. If not her than Diane Miller, both of them manage to frequently keep Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan out of prison.

"I'm sure they are wonderful. Mine is just as good, I swear," he says, stopping at the fork. He turns her toward him and says reassuringly, "I am not about to go to prison."

His hands frame her face and he says, "God, look at you. You're so beautiful, you make me laugh and if I don't watch it, you could make me cry."

She smiles at him, "Excellent, then I have some power over you. That's a good way to start a relationship."

"You are a fascinating minx," he says bending his head to give her a kiss. Just then the cliff path gives way and they begin to fall. Elizabeth clutches at him as he throws his arms around her and pulls her on top of him as they slide down a good ten or twenty feet.

"Are you alright?" He asks as they lay assessing injuries.

"I think so. You?"

"I'm good, except for your knee."

Elizabeth realizes where her knee is and quickly tries to scramble off him. "Oh God, I'm sorry," she says as he grunts in pain.

"Be careful," he warns. "We don't know if this part of the path is any more stable than the other."

"Now I remember why Nikolas always said to stay away from this side of the island."

Elizabeth stands up and offers Ewen her hand. He pulls himself up and they assess the stability of ground around them.

"I don't think we should try walking back up the cliff," he says. "We could start another small avalanche."

"Well then, we have to go down. Hopefully there is a path around the island down or we'll need to call for a rescue."

Ewen curses and reaches into his blazer pocket, "Damn, I don't have my cell. Do you?"

Elizabeth searches her pockets, "I did, I can't seem to find it now."

Ewen looks among the rocks and finds it. "There, it's about ten feet down off the path."

He starts to head down, when Elizabeth grabs his hand. "No offense but don't you think you might be to heavy? I'm smaller, I'll go. Here hold my coat."

He smiles and says, "Yes mam," but can't help adding, "Be careful."

"Always."

Elizabeth tries walking down but finds it a bit steep. She turns and tries crawling, that works better. Occasionally, small rocks break loose and she loses her grip. She looks up and sees Ewen leaning down as far as he safely can, looking ready to leap after and grab her if necessary. She calls up to him, "I'm alright."

She clings to the side of the cliff, sweat breaks out on her forehead and after one tricky maneuver she stops and rests her forehead against the rock wall. She finds herself saying a quick prayer and talking to the rock, "Look, I just want to get my phone and get out of here. If you could hold together until Ewen and I are away, I'd really appreciate. OK?"

She takes a deep breath and shimmies her way down to her phone. "Eureka," she calls up to Ewen. "I've got it and it has a single."

She begins the slow climb back up to Ewen but he points to her right. "See if you can make your way over there to the path. I'll walk down and meet you."

"Alright." In a short time they are reunited. Elizabeth looks down at her hands. "I'm going to have a hard time getting my nails surgery ready and I think I ripped my jeans ..."

Ewen laughs, "You are marvelous." He pulls her towards him and stops her litany of wounds with a kiss.

When he let her up for air she stops him from kissing her again to say, "I'll tell you another reason why I don't believe you killed Cassandra, because when I was hanging off the side of this cliff I saw you above me ready to pounce if I should fall. Ewen, you are protective to your core. That I know."

He hugs her close, "You're pretty fierce on your own, but yes, I will take care of you. Speaking of, lets get you back to the warmth of the house."

Getting back to Wyndemere isn't as easy as they hope. The path ends before they reach the shore.

Ewen says, "We may need to make that call for help."

Elizabeth points to an opening in the cliff wall. "Or we could see where that leads. You never know, it could end somewhere on top of the cliff, or even in Wyndemere's crazy catacombs."

Ewen says, "If the walls appear sturdy, why not?"

Elizabeth smiles, "OK, let's continue this adventure."


	8. Elizabeth Makes a Discovery

**Part 8  
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Elizabeth yells back at Ewen, "Be careful, there are low hanging rocks. Wouldn't want you to hit your head."

Just then she hears an "Ouch".

Ewen grimaces, "Too late."

Elizabeth turns and looks at him in the light of her cellphone. She can't help laughing at his expression.

He half scowls half smiles at her, "You think this is funny?"

She laughs harder, "It's laugh or cry. Especially, when I think how the day started and look at us now."

He rubs his forward and says, "You have well developed coping skills."

"I've had lots of practice. Having said that, when do you think we give up, wave the white flag and call for rescue?"

"How is the battery life on your phone?"

She looks at it, "It still has three-quarters power left."

"The compass app says we are heading in the right direction for the house and we've walked about a mile, which correlates to where the house should be from the cliff. We should know in ten to fifteen minutes if our spelunking trip was futile."

Elizabeth turns around and continues walking, "Let's keep going and rescue ourselves; I'm tired of needing to be rescued. Besides I believe this adventure will end successfully."

"I do too, especially since the walls in here are smooth and the path looks foot warn. Were the Cassadines pirates?"

"They could have been. I'm not really sure when the Cassadines bought the island. Depending on who you ask you get a different story. The records at the Port Charles History Center show the original owner as an English privateer. After that the records are kind of spotty. There are many stories of smuggling in Port Charles' past. It was even part of the Underground Railroad. The Quartermaines used to own all the piers and they would smuggle escaped slaves out of the South and into the North through our harbor. Some people think it was done to assuage Quartermaine guilt because one of their ancestors was in the slave trade. Back to your question, there is anecdotal evidence but no proof. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the English privateer was an employee of the Cassadines and they've been the owners since the house was built."

"Another surprise, you like history" says Ewen.

"It's a little known fact ,but yes I do. I was an indifferent student at school, I used to play hooky a lot. I'd wander around the town and one time I ended up in the history center. I found myself returning there and reading everything. I think what I disliked most about school was being told what and when to study. When I'm on my own, following my own imagination and interests, I like to learn new things."

Elizabeth stops and points her phone at a crevice in the wall. The light exposes a shiny gold cloisonne box. Elizabeth reaches for it, "But that's mine."

Ewen steps in closer to her and looks at what she pulls out of the crevice. It's a box, similar to the one belonging to Spencer Cassadine., only deeper and with a less intricate design. Elizabeth's hands shake as she turns and looks up at Ewen.

She rambles, "It's not really mine. I didn't accept it when Helena tried giving it to me. I'm sure though, this is the same box she tried to give me when I was pregnant with Aiden."

Ewen reaches over and steadies her hand. "It hasn't been here long, it's in perfect condition."

Elizabeth pulls herself together and gets riotously angry, "This proves it, there has been at least one person in this tunnel recently. It must enter the house. We have to show this to the police, you have not been alone with Cassandra on this island.

Ewen says while she continues to speak, "No one ever is, the world harbors too many lost souls."

"Helena must be involved. She's been here Ewen, if not her then one of her henchmen. There is no other reason for this box being here. But why leave the box in the tunnel?"

"I don't know. Any story we come up with will be pure speculation. We might as well be clean, fed and dry when we do it. Let's keep walking and find our way out of here. We can examine the box later."

Elizabeth snaps out of indignation and right into concern for Ewen. She lets him take the box from her and reaches out to tug on his torn and dirty jacket. "You've lost more buttons and you do look battle warn," she says.

"And thirsty, we need to find some water. I know this great place where we kind find it too, the Wyndemere kitchen," he says.

Feeling a new sense of urgency to be out of the tunnel, they stop talking and walk more quickly. Eventually the tunnel becomes a bit wider and smoother. The wall is lined with wood and a few odd pieces of furniture. Knowing they are getting closer spurs them on until they find it, a door.

The door is latched, which would prevent it from being opened from inside the house. Elizabeth releases the latch and shoves at the door. It opens easily and they walk through into the wine cellar. Elizabeth grabs a bottle of red as they make their way upstairs.

"I could use a drink," she says.

"Water first," Ewen replies.

Elizabeth looks at time and knowing that she doesn't need to pick up her boys for three more hours she looks up at Ewen and makes a decision. "Yes and magically showers provide water," she says. She takes his hand and leads him to his bedroom shower.


	9. The Watch Fob

**Part 9**

Elizabeth stands in Ewen's blue shirt, looking at the painting he's hung in his bedroom. He has a way of making the paint transparent, of showing what's underneath the subject. It takes sensitivity to accomplish that technique.

Out of the corner of her eye she catches site of box, the one Helena tried to give her during her latest pregnancy. A coldness settles into her bones and she shivers at the site of it. It frightens her, so she deliberately walks toward it and flips it open. Inside she finds a bronze watch fob. The leather strap is old and warn, cracked in many places but still in good shape for the apparent age. The bronze is tarnished, with a dull patina.

She picks it up and runs her fingers over the flat circle. The image seems familiar but she doesn't know how. It feels heavy in her hand. It makes her think of the past and how people can't live in two places at one time. Helena is steeped in the past. She's never moved beyond the loss of Mykos and Stavros. Elizabeth knows her past is part of her but she chooses to have it make her stronger and live in the present. She's happier that way.

Still she wonders about the significance of the fob and why Helena wanted to give her the box. She wonders why it was tucked safely away in the tunnel and she wonders if it has anything to do with Cassandra's murder. She shakes her head no, that would be putting far to much significance upon herself and her child.

"It's just more of Helena's games," she says out loud.

She puts the fob back in the box as she hears Ewen return from the kitchen. He carries a pot of tea and some fruit.

"Sorry, this is all that I found that didn't need to be cooked," he says.

"Can't cook?" She asks, curious to learn more about him.

"I have a fair way around a grill," he grins. "Mostly I eat a lot of institutional food."

"I know the feeling. It's just easier, one less thing to think about when getting myself and the boys ready in the morning."

"I like General Hospital's food better than at Shadybrooke. At least there I have more options, like the hamburger and pizza bar."

Elizabeth laughs and eyes his lean bare chest. "Lies, I've eaten lunch with you at least four times a week and I've yet to see you eat a hamburger. Fish and chicken yes."

"I only eat the pizza and hamburgers on your days off."

She sits down on the bed and grabs a cracker and says,"Vanity the name is Ewen."

"So you only eat chef salads then?" he asks.

"Caught red handed. I also enjoy the hamburger bar on your days off."

"Now that we have that out in the open, maybe we can order hamburgers the next time we meet for lunch?"

"It's a date. Do you have any other food secrets I need to know about?"

"Like do I eat peanut butter from a spoon? Do I drink orange juice from the carton?"

"Absolutely, these are make it or break it relationship issues."

He turns pensive, "More important than being a murder suspect?"

"I thought we discussed this earlier. You do think I'm crazy because I believe you're innocent?"

"From my understanding of how the courts work in this country, one is presumed innocent anyway," he says settling next to her on the bed. "In my professional opinion, you are not crazy. I am very much concerned about you getting mixed up in my mess, however."

"I'm already ..."

He plays with her free hand and interrupts, "I know you're already mixed up in this mess. But right now you have a choice. One leads you deeper into my mess and the other..."

Now Elizabeth interrupts, "Sets me free? If I believed it, I might consider taking a break; if only because of the boys, but I don't think it will help. I'm already in your 'mess' and if that box is more than coincidence, maybe it's the other way around and you are caught up in my mess. I've been in Port Charles a lot longer than you. I've been mixed up in the Spencer/Cassadine war from the moment I met Lucky and Nikolas."

"You really believe this Helena may have killed Cassandra?"

"If not her then one of her many henchmen."

"Why would she kill Cassandra?"

"No one really knows how Helena thinks. She could have killed Cassandra just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time or because she looked at her wrong. Then again, Helena can threaten to kill someone and let them go if the mood strikes her. Cassandra was in a relationship with Ethan, that could be enough of a reason for Helena to have her killed. Helena loves to torture the Spencer men."

"Right now pinning Cassandra's murder is as much conjecture as the police pinning it on me. I find myself hoping you are right. At least she's a known player in this sick game, otherwise the possibilities are endless. I also find myself disquieted by the idea of that box and how it might involve you."

Elizabeth gets off the bed and goes to the box. She opens it and brings the fob to Ewen.

She asks, "What do you make of this? I have no way of knowing if it was in the box when Helena tried giving it to me but it's there now."

He held it up to the light and says, "It's very old. It looks like a sun symbol with some strange letters."

Elizabeth says, "It feels familiar to me. But I can't figure out why."

He hands it back to her, "When the time is right, you'll figure it out."

"Yeah, maybe I'll ask Nikolas about it the next time we Skype. It's probably nothing. "

Elizabeth puts the fob back in the gold box. "Are you sure you want to stay here alone?"

"I have a feeling I won't be alone for long. The police won't be keeping Ethan in custody either. He'll probably stop by."

"Maybe I should stay? I can call Gram."

"No don't do that. He and I will have to face it each other at some time. We can be more honest, without an audience. I'll take you back to the city."

"Okay, but you have to call me first thing in the morning."

"At sunrise?"

She looks a bit sheepish for being so demanding, "No, but before nine. Or I'll have Dante come check on you."

He kisses her then says, "I wouldn't want to have to bother Detective Falconari. I'll call you before nine."

"Good."


	10. A Confrontation and a Revelation

**Part 10**

Ewen curses his mild mannered persona. The psychiatrist part is accurate, he worked hard to get his degree but he's not the underdog in a street fight. It's been a very long time since that was true, he thinks as Ethan's fist connects with his kidney.

Ewen shuttled Elizabeth back to the city and after a few heated kisses by her car, he watched her go. He wanted to follow her and make sure she made it home okay but before he could get to his car Ethan found him.

Ethan hadn't had as easy of a time at the police station as Ewen. He went through two hours of stewing in a jail cell and being interrogated before Ms. Davis arrived to represent him. As with Ewen, all the evidence the PCPD have on Ethan is circumstantial if not mostly fictional narrative. But unlike Ewen, Ethan has a spotty criminal record and a past as a trouble maker.

It is also to Ethan's detriment that the district attorney doesn't have as many reasons to want Ethan to be innocent as he does for wanting Ewen to be. Ewen has testified for the prosecution on eight cases in Port Charles and many more in New York and LA. His being wrapped up in a murder investigation undermines his testimony in all those cases. Especially the two court cases that have yet to go to the jury.

Ewen saw Ethan coming in plenty of time to decide how he was going to handle the situation. It seemed prudent to let Ethan get a few punches in to alleviate some of his anger. He didn't expect the punches to hurt as much. Ethan packs some surprising power. The kidney punch is the last straw. Ewen quickly pins Ethan with a simple wrestling hold and calmly but roughly asserts, "That's enough."

Ethan struggles a bit more calling Ewen every foul name in the book before he gives up some of his fight.

Ewen releases him and stands up and away from him. "I know you are angry, and rightfully so, but you have the wrong person. I did not kill Cassandra. She was a patient, I've been trying to help her. Think Ethan, use that conman's brain of yours and think. Why would I kill her when we were alone on an island? Why wouldn't I make sure that I had an alibi?"

Ethan gets up and scowls at him, "That is the con. You're an intelligent man, no one would think you stupid enough to kill her like that."

"Thank you, I think. I have no reason to kill her you know that. Elizabeth and I have been getting serious, why would I risk that?"

Ethan is silent for awhile, his body language is tense and on edge. He walks towards a railing and leans on it. "She could be part of your plan too."

Ewen stands calmly and says a quick relaxing mantra to himself as he allows Ethan the opportunity to find his own way to the correct answer.

"But you are right, it makes no sense. If you had feelings for Cassandra, other than doctor patient, dating Elizabeth wouldn't help your cause. You and Cassandra have moved from town-to-town in the past. If you just wanted her you could have disappeared with her pretty easily. Killing her is messy and there is no benefit for you."

Ewen relaxes a bit more and says nothing.

"I asked her to stay with me at the Star last night but she insisted she had to get back to you. She didn't want you to worry. I guess I'm mad at you for that over anything. If it hadn't been for you she would be alive right now."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. Cassandra stopped listening to my advice the moment she met you Ethan. I'm surprised and sorry that she came to Wyndemere last night for that reason. After you dropped her off we talked. She seemed upset about something and wouldn't give me any details. She told me how happy she's been with you. It was a short conversation."

"Yeah, looking back on yesterday, she was upset about something. She wouldn't tell me what either. I figured you had said something to upset her."

"Nothing. Of course I wished she would put more effort into her recovery but I have to admit I've enjoyed having time away from her."

Ethan scowls again and puts his hands in his pockets. He starts to walk away, pauses and says, "I may not believe you killed Cassandra but there's something not right about this whole thing. Elizabeth is the mother of my nephews, it would be wrong for me not to say this, stay away from her. She doesn't need to get dragged into this mess. It's been a rough year for her, she deserves some happiness."

"I want that for her too Ethan. She's a grown woman though who makes her own decisions."

Ethan gives a reluctant nod of agreement. "I may not believe you killed Cassandra but I don't trust you. I'll be watching."

Ewen watches Ethan walk away and reaches into his pocket. He finds what he's looking for a flash drive. It is still in good condition; Ethan didn't manage to damage it during the fight.

When it is safe to do so Ethan makes his way to a secure location. He does a quick check for bugs and then sits at a computer. He enters his passcode and inserts the flash drive. The files upload as he opens a secure connection and starts a video conference.

His conference request is accepted and soon he's giving a report about Cassandra's death to his superior. At the end of his report he leans back in his chair and rubs his bruised chin. He winces as the man on the other end of the video conference laughs.

"I wish I could have watched you take one on the chin. I think I'll suggest the team put surveillance cameras around Wyndemere. I don't want to miss it the next time you let someone win a fight."

"You might have a problem competing with the cameras already installed around the place. I've uncovered another ten. I check the bedroom I'm using daily, so far none. I did find an audio recorder that I managed to take out with an 'accident' involving a pot of tea. Today's sweep found that it has yet to be replaced."

"Good, they don't suspect you. They may expect you to move out of the property now that your patient is dead. We'll need a plausible reason for you to stay."

"Freeze my assets and make it known I am one of the prime suspects in her murder. I've already been asked not to leave town. With no money, I'll have no choice but to stay on at Wyndemere."

"Good, good. It'll be done. Is there anything else you need to report?"

Ewen sits up in the chair and leans towards the camera. He finds himself reluctant to talk about Elizabeth, but he has no choice.

"Elizabeth Webber and I had an unexpected adventure this afternoon. We found another tunnel into the property. This tunnel is old and the entrance into the property is locked. It's not meant for sneaking out, it's meant for sneaking in."

"I thought all of the tunnels were accounted for during the recent reconnaissance."

"So did I. Sir, it was easy to see the entrance from low on the cliffs. It shouldn't have been missed."

The man on the computer screen curses again and scowls. "It was a green recon team."

"True sir, we can blame it on that or …."

"Or we have been infiltrated? I'll order an investigation of everyone on the team. Anything else?"

"Yes. Elizabeth and I found a gold box in the tunnel. She said it's one that Helena Cassadine tried to give her once."

"Do you have it?"

"No. Elizabeth took it home with her. We did find an antique, if not ancient, watch fob on the inside. I would like to have a duplicate made of both the box and the fob, so I can get a closer look at the originals without Elizabeth being aware of my interest. To that end, I've uploaded some photos of the box to our secure server. It's Russian in origin and similar to the one I told you she shipped to Nikolas Cassadine in Greece."

"You'll have the duplicates by the end of the day tomorrow. Keep up the good work. By the way, excellent job. I'll be sure to let your father know."

Ewen's left hand clenches below the desk. He doesn't like his superior's tone or the mention of his father. "Thank you sir, there's no need. Before you go sir, I'd like permission to read Ethan Lovett in on a small part of the operation."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"He's a wild card hell bent on finding whoever is guilty of murdering Cassandra. None of us need this kind of distraction right now. By reading him in I can direct his energy where I want"

"You have complete control of the on-site operation, do as you wish."

"Excellent, because I need a plain clothes protective detail for Elizabeth Webber. She's observant ,so the team needs to be unobtrusive and very good. Helena has surveillance in her home and will know shortly, if she doesn't already, that we've found her secret passageway."

"You've fallen for her haven't you? The women in Port Charles have that affect on men. I could tell you stories about your father and my time in Port Charles. I could tell you stories." The man on the other end of the video conference looks pensive and uncertain whether or not he should ask, but he does. "Have you seen Maxie? How is she?"

Ewen decides to sugar coat his answer. "Your daughter seems fine sir. She is dating a surgeon and her career at Crimson is going well."

Deputy Directory Jones swallows hard before ending the call with, "Excellent, glad to know it. Carry on."


	11. Family

**Part 11**

Elizabeth has the day off from work, so she takes the boys to the history center. Having remembered how much she enjoyed it, she hopes the boys will too. Cameron loves it. He especially enjoys playing with the miniature ships at the children's display.

Cameron looks over at his mother who is flipping through a book and asks, "How come we haven't come here before?"

"I'd kind of forgotten it I guess."

"This place is cool."

"Yeah, well maybe we'll come here again."

"I'd like that."

Elizabeth leaves Cameron with Mrs. Frankweiler, the curator, as she is busy telling him stories about Port Charles' smugglers past.

She can't help thinking about its current band of smugglers as she takes Aiden on a tour. Along the way she stops to show him an old spinet and harp. Mrs. Frankweiler gives her permission to pluck the strings on the harp for Aiden. She remembers Elizabeth from all those years ago.

"I always thought you should have gotten a job here; I would have hired you," she says.

"I wasn't interested in responsibility back then," Elizabeth replies.

"Maybe this young one then, in a few years." Mrs. Frankweiler hands Cameron a bayonet and says, "Don't worry, the bayonet is sheathed."

"I'm not worried, at least about him. He's had a couple fencing lessons with his uncle."

"Yeah," Cameron says. "we used a practice epee. Spence is better at it then I am. But then I'm better at video games then he is. He can't even get past the first level."

Elizabeth catches site of the back room and remembers that the historical registrars are kept back there. She thinks of her discussion about Port Charles' history with Ewen and asks permission to look through the registrars. Mrs. Frankweiler happily gives it.

"Cameron, I'm going into the back room. You obey Mrs. Frankweiler and be careful with her, do not use the bayonet against her."

"I won't. The number one rule of fencing is to not fence without all the safety gear."

Cameron's voice fades as Elizabeth pushes Aiden into the back room. As there are fewer antiquities in this room, she lets Aiden out of his stroller to run around.

She puts on a pair of white gloves and gently opens Port Charles first registrar. Many of the pages are water damaged and it smells of old book mold. She discovers a record for Valentijn Hardij and his wife, Hilde Hardij-Smit, in the 1685 census. They had two sons, Stijn and Thomasse Hardij. She remembers Audrey mentioning that the Hardy's changed their surname during America's fight for independence, so she makes note of the record. Valentijn was listed as a land owner; Elizabeth found no indication of what land he owned.

The book listed many people as millers and sailors, with a few land-owners and farmers for diversity. She found no evidence of anyone with the last name of Cassadine during that time, but it didn't prove anything due to the damaged pages.

She pulls out an old mariner's map and notes the borders of Port Charles in the 1680s. Spoon Island is depicted but not given a name. She finds a map from 1755 which names the island "Drake Island" for Charles Drake, the owner. A little more research tells her that Drake fought for King George II as a privateer against the Spanish in the War of Jenkins' Ear.

The earliest map naming it Spoon Island is from 1810 and there is no indication of who owned the island at that time. She searches for the 1810 registrar to see what she can find when Aiden pulls at her pants leg. He hands her an old leather belt.

"Oh Aiden! Where did you find this? You're going to get me in trouble with Mrs. Frankweiler."

He points to an upended box in the corner. She picks up the box and starts putting the upended items back into it, including Aiden's belt. She searches for a safe place for the box and settles on the top of Mrs. Frankweiler's desk. She notices a book of family crests and calls out to Mrs. Frankweiler.

"If I brought you a crest or symbol could you tell me about it?"

"Absolutely, if I don't know the answer, I know where to find it. I have a lot of friends in the Historical Society. If you want you can email me a photo."

Elizabeth tells her that she will do that and apologizes for Aiden getting into the box. Mrs. Frankweiler, says it's no problem and invites them back at any time.

She calls her grandmother when she gets home and asks if she knows anything about the Hardy family history. Audrey explains that Simone, she and Tom have remarried and were expecting their third child, was working on the family genealogy. Simone sent Audrey a draft to review around Christmas, Audrey gets it.

"What would you like to know?"

"Can you tell me if the Hardy's are decedents of Valentijn Hardij?"

"Yes, through the younger son, Thomasse. Why do you want to know?"

"I came across that name at the History Center and it made me curious about my family. Did Simone write anything about Valentijn?"

"Just that he was a land-owner and council member for several years. He died from pneumonia at eighty-years-old. She writes that the older son, Stijn went to sea and never returned. She noted that she found one mention of a Stijn Hardij who owned part of a shipyard in England. He seems to disappear after that and she's not sure he's our Stijn."

"Maybe he changed his name like the Hardij's did during the Revolution."

"What about Tomasse?"

"He worked the land but died before he could inherit. His son Peter inherited and lost most of it gambling."

"Do we know where the land was?"

"If I'm reading this right it's Queen's Point, where you live now. Why?"

"For some odd reason, I was wondering if it could have been Spoon Island."

"Not that I can find in this family history. As you know, I'm going to France to visit with Tom and his family, do you want me to ask Simone what she knows?"

"Only if it's convenient, I was just curious."

Audrey says her interest is peaked now, so she'll come home with a full report. Elizabeth says goodbye and begins to think about planning dinner. She pulls some thawed pork chops out of the fridge just as the doorbell rings.

She goes to answer it and discovers Lulu.

"Hey Lulu, I was just making dinner. Would you like to join us?"

Lulu comes in and takes her coat off. "If you're sure it's alright. Dante is working tonight, so that would be great."

"You can help prepare the vegetables while we talk. Or would you rather play with the boys, they are up in Cameron's room."

"Maybe later, I'll help with the vegetables, so we can talk."

Lulu scrapes the carrots and asks Elizabeth what she knows about Ethan's girlfriend Cassandra. They discuss the mystery surrounding her death and Elizabeth asks how he is doing. Lulu says, "Not very well. I found him passed out under the counter at the Haunted Star this morning."

"I should have called him or checked up on him today. I wasn't sure if he would like getting a call from me though because of," Elizabeth breaks off as she realizes that she's about to tell her former sister-in-law about her new boyfriend.

"Ewen," Lulu finishes Elizabeth's sentence. "Ethan told me. I'm okay you know, with you dating. It's been over between you and Lucky for a long time. I'm happy for you. But I have to say, I'm a bit concerned; he is a suspect in Cassandra's murder."

"So is Ethan," Elizabeth replies lightly. "But the police, your own husband included, don't have enough evidence to arrest either of them."

Lulu holds up both arms in surrender. "Believe me I'm not judging, just concerned. Besides, Ethan seems to think Ewen didn't do it either."

Elizabeth releases some tension she didn't even know she was holding and exhales in relief. She asks, "He doesn't?"

"No apparently he and Ewen had a discussion last night and they came to an understanding. They both agree that someone came in through one of the many tunnels in that place and killed Cassandra. What they can't agree on is why?"

"Has Dante talked to you about the case?"

"Not much and I didn't ask. I really did come here to tell you it was okay that you are dating; not that you need my permission to date; I just didn't want you to be uncomfortable around me."

"It's okay for me to date, as long as I'm not dating one of your brothers." Elizabeth immediately apologizes at Lulu's hurt expression. "I'm sorry, that was a low blow. You had ever right to be upset with me. I was hurting your family. Honestly, I'm relieved that Ewen is new to town and has nothing to do with my past. Its probably my favorite, well third or fourth favorite thing about him."

Lulu smiles and says, "So tell me more, what's your favorite thing?"

Elizabeth laughs, "He's tall, he loves to paint, he helps me see things in a new light, we laugh a lot, and he's an excellent kisser, but I'm not sure of the order yet. I'm still figuring that out."


	12. Protection

**Part 12**

Elizabeth puts down her copy of "The Corpse Danced at Midnight" by J.B. Fletcher in shock. She shakes her head and thinks out loud, "It was the pregnant ballerina, who knew?"

As she prepares for bed she wonders what Ewen did that day. She texted him and he sent a quick and very brief response, "At work, call you later." Well, it's nine-thirty in the evening now and he has yet to call. She considers calling him but decides that it's his turn to call and hopes he does, especially after how they spent yesterday afternoon.

She hears Cameron's bedroom door open and, as she is now hyper aware of doors opening and shutting in her home, her heart skips a beat. She slowly takes a deep breath, slips her robe on, and walks quickly to her bedroom door. She peaks out and sees Cam walking towards the stairs.

She doesn't want to call out to him and frighten him, especially after they great day they had at the History Center, but she wants too. Instead she counts to ten and watches him walk down the stairs. While counting she frantically tries to remember if she dead bolted the front door. Cameron disappears as he reaches the turn in the stairs, so she heads to the top of the stairs and sees him head away from the front door towards the kitchen.

She hears the step-stool scrape along the kitchen floor and hears water running from the faucet. Not wanting Cam to see her fear, she walks quickly back to her bed and sits. She moves shaking hands to her face and weeps for a moment, allowing herself to miss Jake and wishing she had been this hyper-vigilant the night he died. She pulls herself together as she hears Cam's footsteps in the hall.

He comes to her door and calls out, "Mom?"

She is proud of how calm and even her voice is as she answers, "Yes, baby."

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Cam is certainly old enough to sleep in his own bed but after her fear and this being the first time he's asked in a very long time she says yes.

Cam yells his happiness and jumps up on the bed. She tucks him in and gets into the other side of the bed. As soon as she is settled, Cam rolls into her, she pulls him closer and tucks his head under her chin.

"Mom, can we go back to the history center tomorrow?"

"You really liked it there didn't you?"

"Yeah, Mrs. Frankweiler showed me all sorts of fun things. I can't wait to tell Spencer about the bayonet."

"I promise that I will take you there again, but not tomorrow. We don't want to wear out our welcome."

Cameron pulls her hand closer to his front and clings to it. "Okay. Love you.

She gives him a kiss on the top of his head and says, "I love you too baby."

She listens as Cam's breathing grows deeper and counts the heart beats beneath her hand. Just before he drops completely into sleep, she asks, "Cam, why didn't you get a drink of water in your bathroom?"

"That's Jake's favorite cup. I miss him too much when I use it. He would have had fun today too."

"Yes he would," she whispers to her sleeping son. She is both saddened and heartened by her son's words. It's the first time Cam has mentioned Jake or talked to her about his feelings in a long time. She finally believes that they that they will be okay, that their little family will survive Jake's loss. As long as Cam can talk about his brother, there is hope.

She drifts of to her first fully restful sleep in months, never hearing the back door slip open.

Ewen walks quickly and quietly through the slumbering house. He finds the blue box on the mantel in the living room and opens it. The fob is still inside. He opens his pack and takes out the duplicate, he places that on the mantel and carefully slips the original box into his pack.

He could have let one of his team make the switch, but he didn't like the idea of anyone else wandering through Elizabeth's house while she and her family were asleep upstairs. He doesn't like to do it, but for her safety, he places a couple cameras and listening devices around her home. The outside was already fully covered with surveillance. For the most coverage, another camera should be placed in the upstairs hallway.

"Dammit," he thinks. "I should read her in, get her permission for this." He decides that he can't risk her refusal. Her safety, and the safety of her two young boys, means enough to him to risk her anger if – when – she learns about the surveillance. Resigned, he scales the stairs, extremely light of foot for a man his size, and he places the last camera.

He walks by her bedroom, the door is open and he sees her and Cam sleeping, bathed in moonlight. He laughs inwardly at the open curtains, there is nothing secure about that, but then, she doesn't live in his world. His world is one of constant vigilance, hyper awareness, and reconnaissance. He notices how tightly she holds Cameron to her and thinks, maybe he's wrong. Maybe she does have to fight being over-protective, fight the instinct to live in constant fear that something might take another of her children from her.

He makes her a silent promise – he will protect them – no matter what the consequence. He turns away from the gentle scene before him and walks quietly from the house, resetting the alarm system, and securing the backdoor as he leaves. Her protective detail where able to rent a house on her street, so he checks in with the team before leaving her neighborhood.

Returning to Wyndemere he looks around the austere and elegant surroundings and thinks about how cold it all is.

His childhood in Australia prepared him well for fitting into the worlds defined by both the homes he entered this evening; one warm and welcoming, the other cold and indifferent.

Sighing he strips and climbs into his empty bed.

AN: Edited last paragraph (4/14/12) to bring the story in line with my newly updated outline.


	13. Dinner with Friends

**Part 13**

Elizabeth strips off her used surgical gloves and tosses them in the appropriate medical waist bin. She leans against the wall and sighs as she reaches up and removes her tieback cap, letting her hair fall free.

"You did good in there," she hears Patrick say. "That was a tough one."

"Tough for you maybe. I just stood next to you for six hours, occasionally handing you things to kill the monotony."

"You play an important role on the surgical team."

"Yep, knowing what the surgical instruments are called and handing them to you when needed." She pushes away from the wall and starts washing her hands. "Don't mind me, I just had a rough day today."

"Monica giving you a hard time again? Or are you worried about Ewen"

"No to both. You should be ashamed of yourself, listening to rumors and innuendo."

"Sorry, but I had to ask. I know you're seeing the guy and the rumors are only getting worse not better. Mysterious new psychiatrist, lives alone on an island, and Spoon Island at that, with amnesiac patient who ends up murdered you can see why."

"You mean mysterious and good looking psychiatrist."

"I hadn't noticed. Can't say blond men do anything for me."

"Glad to hear it, for Robin's sake. The police don't have anything on Ewen or the prosecutor would have filed charges. I guess I was hoping that the gossip would have died down by now, it's been a week. Mostly I've been racking my brain trying to remember something."

"Something I could help you with?"

"It's nothing really. I'm just trying to remember where I've seen a design before."

"A design? Are you working at Crimson now?"

"No, it's the design on an antique watch fob. Funnily enough Ewen and I found the fob on Spoon Island."

"You'll have to tell me and Robin about it at dinner." Patrick says as he leaves to head to the locker room. "You are still having us over for dinner, even though I called your boyfriend a murderer?"

"Absolutely, it's not Robin's fault you're an insensitive clod."

Elizabeth's shift doesn't end for another hour and as that's not enough time to assist on another surgery, so she keeps herself busy helping Epiphany with some file maintenance until the end of her shift. The clock strikes four and she's free to take the boys home and start dinner.

She lied to Patrick about why her day was rough. She wasn't thinking about the watch fob, although it has been on her mind. No she is nervous because of tonight. She's hosted the Drakes at her place before and successfully served dinner without poisoning anyone, but tonight is special. It's the first time she and Ewen would spend an evening with friends, as a couple.

She leaves Cameron playing outside, in the newly fenced backyard, as she puts Aiden down for a nap and starts prepping the dining room for tonight's dinner. While she works she reflects on how nice it is that Cameron accepted Ewen into their lives, so easily. Ewen treats Cameron like an adult, which Cameron responds to well, and doesn't seem to mind Aiden using him as a ladder. The toddler loves being carried by Ewen, he seems to like heights.

The clock strikes six and she hears Ewen's car pull into the driveway. She unlocks the front door to let him inside. He looks around for Cameron, and not seeing him, he pulls Elizabeth up and towards him. She reaches up and clasps his broad shoulders and settles in to enjoy the kiss.

"Well hello," she says when he lets her up for air.

"I didn't want to miss an opportunity to kiss my girl."

Elizabeth hangs his coat in the closet. "Thank you for being so understanding about public displays of affection in front of Cameron."

"Believe me I get it. It's healthy for children to see adults being affectionate but Cameron has had a lot of changes to deal with this year. There is no reason to add this stress to his life before it's necessary. Besides, I don't want to be the reason he stops talking to you again."

They are interrupted by Cameron coming in from outside and telling them that the Drakes were walking over from their home. Elizabeth urges Cameron to go back out and greet them while she gets Aiden down from upstairs. Ewen goes outside with Cameron to open the gate.

With Aiden in her arms, Elizabeth takes a few deep breaths and opens the backdoor for her friends. "Come in, come in. Dinner's ready."

Patrick says, "Good, Emma could eat a horse."

"Ew, Daddy that sounds gross. I would never eat a horse."

Robin gives Elizabeth a hug. "What he means is, he could eat a horse. I heard his stomach grumbling on the way over."

The family and friends sit down for dinner and by desert, Elizabeth can finally relax. The dinner went smoothly, with the friends talking and laughing a lot. Ewen and Patrick didn't have a lot in common but they seemed to bond over a discussion about new methods of therapy for brain injury victims. Some how that lead to a discussion about high combustion engines and racing. Ewen didn't know a lot about Nascar but he held his own on the topic of engines.

Robin mentions that Patrick swims at the health club and Elizabeth tells her about Ewen being a former life guard and champion swimmer. The men agree to meet at the club and race each other, even though Ewen prefers open water swimming. Cameron and Emma want to watch, so they all agree to make a date of it, everyone will go and cheer on their swimmer.

Cameron gets so excited he jumps out of his seat and goes over to Ewen. He puts his hand on his shoulder. "Can I be on your team?"

Ewen looks over at him, "Absolutely, you can compete in the junior division."

Patrick looks over at Emma, "How about it, want to compete against Cameron? We'll give him a handicap since he's older then you and has been swimming longer."

"Okay daddy, but our team has to wear pink."

"Pink? How about we call ourselves The Pinks but we wear black?"

"I'll make pink pompoms and cheer you both on, how about that Emma?" Robin says through her laughter.

Emma nods sagely, "Okay, but I want to wear pink. Daddy can wear black."

Ewen asks Cameron, "What do you want our team name to be?"

"The Wombats! That's an Australian animal, isn't it Ewen?"

"Yes it is Cameron. The Wombats it is."

Elizabeth suggests blue and green as the team's colors to match Cameron's swim trunks.

"Are you going to race Mom?"

"No Cam, someone has to watch Aiden. Besides The Pinks have a cheerleader, The Wombats should have one too."

Cameron seems to consider that for a moment before replying, "Okay, but you should record our race, so we can watch it later in case of a disagreement about who wins."

"And watch it back for training purposes," Ewen adds with a wink.

"Yeah, what Ewen says, he's team captain."

The team talk took them through dessert and up to the movie that Elizabeth put in for the kids to watch while the adults continued to talk after dinner. She gets the watch fob before returning to the table with a fresh bottle of wine, Patrick had reminded her that she was going to tell them the story of the watch fob.

She and Ewen tell the Drakes everything about their adventure through the tunnel at Wyndemere and finding the fob. Elizabeth tells them about Mrs. Frankweiler and how she's researching the symbol for her. "She said she'd let me know in a couple of days either way, so I should be hearing from her soon. It took me a few days to get back to her with the design."

Robin, who is holding the fob, says, "Since the box is the one Helena gave you, it has to be significant. I wonder if my mother could help? I can ask her for you."

"Thanks, but I don't want to bother her with it. I'm sure it's not that important."

Ewen asks to see the fob and Robin gives it to him. He's relieved that Elizabeth didn't want to involve Anna, but surprised that she was looking into the fob design. She hadn't mentioned it to him before tonight. The conversation changes to other topics until the movie ends and the Drakes take Emma home.

He puts the fob back in the box and makes a mental note to request a speedy return of the originals, as Elizabeth walks the Drakes to the backyard gate. He's holding a sleepy Aiden when she comes back in saying, "I remember why the fob was familiar to me. I've seen the design at Wyndemere."


	14. Revelations

**Part 14**

Ewen's briefing with his team took until the early hours of the morning. He puts some jazz on the old record player at Wyndemere and downs a shot of espresso. It's going to be another night with no sleep for him. Jones didn't have great news.

Two team members are suspected of being moles and saboteurs, Jones now has them being watched. Until they pull them from duty and question them, Ewen is in the dark about what information they have shared with the enemy. Jones believes that Ewen's cover is still good.

The only good news was that the forensics team found nothing out of the ordinary about Elizabeth's gold box and the watch fob. His team will replace the fakes with the originals today.

He has a few hours before Elizabeth arrives to search Wyndemere, so he gets back to his painting. He doesn't want her to wonder why it's taking him weeks to finish, after all that's what she thinks he does with his free time. It's true, he just has less free time then she believes.

It seems minutes before he hears her at the studio door. "Good morning, is it done yet? Are you going to let me see your painting?"

Ewen smiles at her beautiful face and dashes her hopes, "No not to day, but soon. It's giving me some trouble."

"Maybe it's not the painting but you?"

He washes out his brushes and laughs, "So true doctor, thanks for the diagnosis."

"I just meant, maybe your life is in upheaval right now. Upheaval may be the wrong word, perhaps transition would be better. I doubt you expected, so many distractions from your career when you moved to Port Charles."

He indicates for her to sit on the sofa and he joins her, taking her hand. "Is that what you think I consider you?"

"Maybe, a little. I doubt you planned on a relationship with a woman who has two children and comes with a lot of baggage. You didn't think you would end up with an immediate family … I guess that's what I'm trying to say. You don't have to go through with the swim competition if you don't want to, Cameron will understand."

"No he won't," Ewen interrupts. "It wouldn't be good for him. I'd be another man that makes him promises and doesn't keep his word. I keep my word Elizabeth, maybe not on time always but I keep it, and I wouldn't have said yes, if I didn't want to do it. It will be fun. Unless you think we're moving to fast. We can do the swim and I can …."

She shakes her head no. "No, you just seemed distracted after the swim talk and I thought maybe you were regretting saying yes. We're a little much to take on, with our issues and now my fascination with the watch fob."

"I know I can be absentminded and can get lost in my work, but I assure you, I can handle your issues or baggage as you called it earlier. You forget my profession. Your baggage is significant but pretty light compared to some I've seen. I was distracted, but I was just lost in thought, over thinking something. It's a bad habit of mine."

"A symptom of living alone."

"And being cerebral. Trust me I've thought about it and I like having your baggage in my life. You keep things interesting. You and your family bring me out of my … isolation. The real question is whether you can handle having me in your life. It isn't good for you to always be worrying about what I'm thinking when I do get lost in thought, because it happens a lot. It doesn't mean that I'm regretting being with you or that I don't enjoy my time with your family.

You also need to consider that I will disappear on you, not because I want to but because my work calls for it. Remember I will keep my word, it just may not be on the planned schedule, although I'll do everything I can to keep to the original schedule."

"That part I get. I'm a nurse who works with doctors, sometimes our schedules are not our own. It's just, you are becoming very important to me and," she stops uncertain how to proceed.

He cups her face with his hands, "And you're worried that I might not say the same. Don't be. You and yours are very important to me. I'll risk a lot for the three of you and to keep you safe, more than you know. I fall a little more in love with you every day."

She kisses him, "Good because I think I'm falling for you too."

The two of them allow themselves to delay their original morning plans for some love making there in the studio. It's a long time before they start their treasure hunt.

Elizabeth leads Ewen to the oldest section of Wyndemere. "I saw the design on the watch fob when Lucky and I lived here. We were being foolish, playing hide and seek in this area of the house."

"I don't believe having fun is foolish."

She blushes, "Foolish because of the condition of the building. Wyndemere has maintenance issues, but it's like this wing was left deliberately to decay. Like the caretakers disregarded it on purpose. For all the Cassadine pride, it seems to me that something embarrasses or shames them about this wing. Perhaps that thought is foolish too."

"Or profound, but we may never know. Some things that happen in the past stay there, never revealing themselves to the present."

"And sometimes the eroding power of time reveals the past naturally, like when rain washes the dirt of an ancient city."

"Have I mentioned how much I like the way your brain works? Because I do. It amazes me."

She punches him lightly in the arm, "Flatterer."

"Me? Never. Mr. Truth-teller remember."

"Yeah and I only have your word to prove it."

"I guess you'll just have to spend a lot of time with me, so time can verify my words."

"I could like that. What was your childhood like?"

"That came out of the blue." He moves a beam out of the way of the door Elizabeth indicates they should walk through. "Maybe we should do a cell phone check before we enter. We could end up in Never Never Land or down another pirate tunnel."

"I have mine, fully charged. We were just talking about the past revealing itself, so stop stalling and tell me."

"There isn't much to tell. You already know my most traumatic experience. My mother is interesting. She had an nontraditional life, growing up speaking Walmajarri and living amongst the Aboriginal peoples. Her father ran a pub and left her to be mostly raised by the townspeople – who were mostly Aboriginal. She learned a lot about their art.

She told me that my father rescued her, picking her up out of the dirt, removing her from a tin shack in the desert to a suburban home near the power of the sea. She never really fit in with her neighbors, she was to much of a desert flower for that. But she was happy.

She was always painting, always sculpting. I don't remember her doing much else. She loved me, taught me art, but left me to my own devices, after all it's how she was raised.

As for my father, I never knew him as a child. He rescued her then abandoned her, not before buying her the house and leaving enough money for her and I to live on, but he wanted nothing to do with us. It wasn't until after her death that I met him. He is a very cold, proud, and aloof man, at least with me. I embarrass him. I'm proof of his mistakes."

Elizabeth touches his arm in sympathy, "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. Like I said, it was a pretty good life."

"My parents left me to my own devices too. I fought for their attention through bad behavior. It didn't work. The only person I was hurting was myself. My parents are good people, they just weren't cut out for day-to-day parenting. Their purpose is to save lives and they thought by providing me and my siblings a roof over our heads and food on the table, that we had enough. Other people needed them more. They may be right or they could be wrong. I haven't decided how I feel about people who crusade having children. It seems to me the crusade ends up meaning more than the child, but then the child grows up with heroic parents. I guess that's good in it's own way."

She stops to get her bearings. "Wow, this place has really changed in ten years. If I remember correctly, Lucky hid in that wardrobe there and I kept going that way. I wanted to make it really hard for Nikolas."

"Competitive. I see where Cameron gets it."

"Absolutely. Well only sometimes. It depends on the game and the players."

Ewen smiles in appreciation for her own brand of quirkiness, then frowns after opening another door for her. Just as many parts of the ceiling were on the floor as they were on the roof. Brick pillars were crumbling and wooden beams decayed beyond structural integrity. "You went through here? Elizabeth! This room had to be just as dangerous then as is now."

"Never say I don't take risks. Yep, I definitely went through here. See the remains of those stained glass windows. I remember being fascinated by some of the designs. Come on."

She, unheeding his safety warning, rushes in the room. She points toward the far right corner and says, "There. I hid in the fireplace." She runs her hands over the dusty and damaged side wall. "It was somewhere on here, I think."

The fireplace was large enough to roast a whole boar. The top mantel was higher than Elizabeth was tall. Ewen could see why she chose it as a hiding place. She could easily stand against the inside wall and no one would see her from the door.

"Here it is," she says excitedly looking up at the center mantel design. The carving was of what could be a large half shell and at its base was a circle, mostly broken now, with enough left to show that it was a match for the design on the fob.

Ewen hears an unsettling sound above him and looks up. He quickly throws his arms around Elizabeth and carries half pushes her into the fireplace. He covers her with his body as another section of the roof crashes to the floor. Hitting the spot where they had been standing. The force of both their bodies hitting the back wall of the fireplace pushed it open.

When the ceiling stopped falling and some of the dust settles, Ewen carefully checks himself to make sure nothing is broken before moving most of his weight off of Elizabeth. "Are you all right? Did I crush you?"

"I'm fine. I guess I owe you my life … again."

For a moment he looks disconcerted, "Again?"

She looks up at her dust covered hero. "Yes again. It was you that pulled me out of the water and saved my life last fall wasn't it?"

"You knew?"

"Not for sure, not until now."

He rolls off her completely and sits next to her. "What gave me away?"

"Your abs," she says cheekily. "It wasn't any one thing. You just seemed so familiar to me, and then you told me about being a lifeguard. It was weird that you lived here in secret too. It just all added up in my mind. I felt confident enough to ask, after you picked me up just now."

He helps her sit up and pushes some small pieces of stone out of her hair. "Why haven't you asked before now?"

"I wasn't really sure and if you were him, I was waiting for you to tell me. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I can't tell you why I didn't stay with you until you were at hospital."

"Oh. Cassandra?"

"Partly, but that's all I can say. Can you forgive me?"

"For saving my life, twice? Yes. At first I was mad when I thought you could have been the one that saved me and you said nothing about it. Then I decided that you had your reasons and who am I to judge."

"I'm glad you know. I don't have to feel like I'm keeping a deep dark secret from you, but could we keep this between us? I don't want everyone knowing about it."

"For my hero … sure. At least I know you're not someone out for his fifteen minutes of fame. That's a plus in my book."

"You have no idea how surprised I was when you walked through my door at Shadybrook and how hard it was for me not to tell you that we had met. There she was, my beautiful sea nymph, alive, warm, and breathing and she was at Shadybrook, a potential patient. You have no idea how thrilled I was that you didn't end up as my patient. No idea?"

"Oh I have some idea," she answers cheekily.

He pulls her close, "I guess you do."

"I should apologize to you," she says. "I dragged you on my silly hunt for a symbol and we almost die."

"It's not your fault the building is crumbling, and haven't we agreed, no more apologies?"

"Yeah, but we didn't have to go looking for the symbol. I don't know why I'm interested in it. Knowing that the watch fob was found in this building and in Helena's box is enough to tell me it's connected to Wyndemere. We didn't have to look for more proof."

"Your instincts are telling you to look into the symbol. There's nothing wrong with that. We all need mysteries and adventure in our lives." He looks around. "Where are we?"

"It looks like another secret room. Wyndemere is riddled with them."

"This one feels like it was occupied."

"If it was, I feel sorry for the occupant. It feels cold, like a prison."

Ewen points to the remains of what was obviously a bed. The fabric was silk. "If it was a prison, someone cared enough to keep the prisoner as comfortable as possible."

Elizabeth gets up and moves toward a mirrored dresser. The mirror was cracked and mostly gone, but the wood was still in good shape. "It looks like something was removed from here, pretty recently. You can still see a difference in the amount of dust."

"Another clue for you."

"A clue that will have to go un-investigated. I'm going to leave the sleuthing to the professionals for awhile."

"If you are sure, because I'll happily tag along on your next adventure."

"You might want to think twice about that, we seem to end up in need of a shower after our 'Adventures of the Mysterious Watch Fob'."

"Well, I don't know about you Nancy, but I have no problem with that. I'm growing used to sharing a shower with you."


	15. The Race

**Part 15**

Lulu sits on the bleacher next to Elizabeth. "Here I bought popcorn."

"I can't believe you came for this, thank you."

"And miss my nephew's first swim competition, never. Besides someone should hold the camera, so you can enjoy the show. It's not the same watching through a small lens."

"Well thank you anyway."

"Ethan said he would have come too, something about needing to see how Ewen was going to handle this, except that he's out of the country."

"Out of the country? I wondered why he hasn't stopped by lately to teach Cameron cards."

"Yeah he said something about Paris and then maybe stopping in Greece to see Nikolas."

"I hope he's not hunting Helena."

"It wouldn't surprise me if he is, he thinks she's somehow behind Cassandra's death."

Robin makes her way over to Elizabeth and Lulu just then. She had been in the locker-room getting Emma ready. "Hi Lulu. Isn't this fun. Emma is so excited, its all she's talked about for a week. Patrick has taken her to the pool to practice everyday."

Elizabeth pokes at Robin's bag. "Yeah but it won't be as much fun if you forgot the pom-poms."

"Crap!" Robin reaches into the bag. "I think I have them. I seem to remember putting them in this thing last night. Here they are! Emma will never forgive me if I forgot the pink pom-poms."

"I bet Patrick would forgive you."

"Patrick tried to accidentally throw them away. He even brought home a vuvuzela, said it would be more dignified."

All together the women laugh and say, "Men!"

"Men what?" They hear from below, where Patrick is standing holding a very happy little girl.

"Don't move, I want a picture," Robin calls while digging for her camera.

"Looks like Team Pink is the first to arrive. I think that makes us the winners. How bout you, Emma?"

"No Daddy, we have to race."

"Just like your momma, always gotta follow the rules. I say we give The Wombats 30 seconds and if they don't arrive ..."

"Don't arrive what?" Ewen says following a very eager Cameron out of the dressing rooms.

Lulu chokes on some popcorn and gasps quietly, "That's your Ewen! Jesus, where do those legs end, those arms? You say he swims a lot, I'm going to have to throw Dante into a pool." She shuts up when Elizabeth's fist connects lightly with her arm.

"Keep your eyes to yourself, that man is with me."

Unaware of the women's antics Patrick continues, "Emma and I were just about to declare ourselves the winners."

Cameron puffs out his chest. "That's just cause you're scared we're going to beat you."

Elizabeth calls down to Cameron,"Sweety, remember this is just for fun."

"I know Mom. Ewen reminded me of that before we came out here. Emma only has to swim one lap and I have to swim two."

Robin interrupts, "But first team photos and Patrick say something into the video camera."

"Did you bring the vuvuzela? No, didn't think so. Emma your mom has little team spirit, that's what I have to say for the camera."

"Patrick shut up before I brain you with a pom-pom."

"Here that Emma, Mommy's threatening violence."

"Not until after the race Mommy. Daddy has to be in, be in, …. what did you call it Cameron?"

"Peak condition."

Emma smiles and pats her dad's shoulder, "Peak condition."

With the formality of photos and videos out of the way, and an overall agreement that none of the evidence of this event would end up on the internet, the competitors get in the water. Patrick stands near Emma, ready if he should be needed and Ewen watchs Cameron from the pool deck.

"Remember Cameron, start on. go Are you ready Emma?" The little girl nods and Patrick replies yes, so Ewen continues. "On your mark, get set, go!"

The kids paddle and kick with all their might and the moms and lone aunt yell encouragement. Ewen watches Cameron closely and yells out advice every now and then.

"Go Emma" "Go Baby" "Yay Cam, you can do it!" "Oh my God, Emma's doing so well!"

"Cam just one lap to go!" "Go Team Pink!" "Go Wombats, Go Wombat, Go Wombats!"

Cameron has made the turn and is making a serious effort to reach the side of the pool and Ewen when Patrick yells, "That's my girl, just two more feet. You've got this princess." But both Ewen and Patrick yell, "Touch" at the same time. It's a tie.

The moms go wild! Lulu drops the video camera in excitement. Aiden sleeps through it all.

After a brief break to allow time for the moms to kiss and hug their champions and cover them in towels, the men take their turn in the pool. Both Elizabeth and Robin say the countdown and at 'go' the mayhem starts all over again. The kids swam the short direction of the pool, the men the longer, but their competition is going just as quickly.

From the beginning Ewen outstretches Patrick by a full body length. Patrick is never able to catch up but he matches Ewen stride for stride. It is a clear win for team Wombats. Patrick takes it well, only blaming the loss on Ewen's 'unnaturally long arms and fingers' three or four times.

Elizabeth chides Patrick, "They aren't unnatural, he is perfectly proportioned for his height."

Robin joins in, "Patrick, your delicate fingers are perfect for brain surgery. Very nimble."

Patrick picks up Emma, "Sorry I let you down sweetheart."

"That's okay. Ewen may be the better swimmer, but my Daddy's the better surgeon."

"Hear that Robin, Emma thinks I'm the better surgeon."

"That's because Emma thinks all doctors are surgeons and because she agrees with me about your delicate fingers."

The Drakes' laughter and familial chiding continues as they head towards the locker room. Cameron insists on more photos because he and Ewen won. Lulu tells Elizabeth to take Aiden and get in the picture. Once Cameron is satisfied with his photo, Lulu says goodbye and change for a celebratory lunch.

"It was a good morning," Elizabeth says when Ewen drops her and the boys of at home.

"It was."

"Would you want to do it again, spend the day with the Drakes?"

"Only if you and the boys join us."

Elizabeth laughs, "That's what I meant."

Ewen gives her a long and lingering kiss, "Any time. But when can we get together again, just the two of us?"

"Just the two of us huh." She is interrupted by her ringing cell phone. "One second, it might be someone needing a shift covered. I'm on call this weekend."

"Hello," she says, not checking the number.

"Elizabeth? It's Mrs Frankweiler dear. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you about that symbol you sent me. Most of my friends hadn't seen anything like it, but my friend in England recognized it as soon as he saw it. He's just been away at a conference in Vienna until today. He said you can still find that symbol down on the London docks. Apparently it was the crest or brand for an old shipping concern."

Elizabeth is stunned. "Do you know if the company was owned by a Stijn Hardij?"

"Why yes it was dear. He was the American partner, the British partner was a Lord Abernathy. Just a minor Viscount, nothing to write home about. My friend said he could send you information about the company if you want."

"I'm not as interested in the company as in the man. He's an ancestor of mine, a many times great uncle."

"I'll ask him to send you the information, shall I?"

"Yes, of course. Have him send it to my personal email if he can. Thank you Mrs. Frankweiler."

"Anytime dear. The next time you come to the History Center I'll have a fun new game for the boys. I found this lovely antique while out shopping the other day.

Mrs. Frankweiler says her goodbyes and Elizabeth looks at Ewen in shock. "Why is my many-times-great-uncle's business crest on a fireplace mantle at Wyndemere?"

"I don't know, but does this mean I'll soon be on another adventure with your alter-ego Nancy?"

"Absolutely, especially if you want alone time with me, but the name is Elizabeth, just remember that. I think you have DID on the brain."


	16. Family History

**Part 16**

Elizabeth knocks on Ewen's office door, his door sign says he's in and unoccupied, so she tries the door; it's locked. She can hear him on the phone but not clearly enough to know what he's saying. She knocks one more time and when he doesn't answer, she heads to the cafeteria without him. She doesn't think anything of his not answering her; he is very careful about keeping his patients information private; but she is disappointed at the prospect of missing lunch with him.

He had to go to New York to testify in a trial and it's been a week since they've spent any time together. She was excited about his call last night, letting her know that he was back home. She is interested in hearing how the trial went and in telling him what she's found out about her family mystery.

Steven sees her enter the cafeteria. "Hey sis, care to join me for lunch?"

"Sure. I was supposed to have lunch with Ewen. Do you care if he joins us? If he does."

Steven scowls a little at the idea.

"Hey, they didn't press any charges. We believe people are innocent in this country until proven guilty."

"Unless public opinion says otherwise." At her scowl, he quickly responds, "Pax. I'm in no position to judge."

"Good," she responds before heading to get some food. When she returns she says, "What did you mean about not being in a position to judge?"

"Nothing, just an empty comment. I called Grams in Paris last night. What's this about a family mystery and why haven't you said anything? She said part of Wyndemere nearly collapsed on you while you were investigating."

"It was nothing. Ewen got me out of the way and as you can see, I'm fine. Didn't Grams tell you anything about it on the phone?"

"No, she said international phone rates are too high; I should ask you."

Elizabeth tells her brother about the box and watch fob and brings him up to speed on everything she's discovered. She is just about to tell him about the ship yard in London and what Simone emailed her two days ago when she becomes distracted.

Steve asks, "What's made you light up?" He follows her gaze and sees Dr. Keenan. "I haven't seen you smile like that in ages. You've really fallen for him?"

"Yes, I think I have."

Ewen grabs a sandwich and joins them. "I thought I would never get off that call. I'm glad there's still a little time left to your lunch break."

"I have another thirty minutes, then I have to prep for surgery."

"With Drake?"

"No, with Steve."

"I had to practically fight Patrick for her. He doesn't like to share 'his' surgical nurses."

Ewen asks, "Don't you usually work in the E.R.?"

"Yes. I'm standing in for another surgeon who called in sick. It's good to get out of the E.R. every once in awhile. Keeps me on my toes."

While her bother and boyfriend make small talk, Elizabeth sneaks one hand under the table and so does Ewen. They link hands and smile at each other. It's nice to be in the same room again.

"I guess I should thank you Ewen, for saving my sister's life."

"She told you?"

"No, my grandmother did. I can't believe you're still living at Wyndemere, what with the walls falling down."

"Just in that one wing. I usually avoid it. My lease isn't up and the police froze most of my assets. Something about sticking around until they close Cassandra's murder case."

"Yet you were just in the city."

"Yes, to testify. I was the State's witness, not the defendant." Ewen drops Elizabeth hand and puts both of his hands on the table, he leans forward a little and looks Steve straight in the eyes and says calmly. "I understand your concern. You are Elizabeth's brother, so I am choosing to not be offended. Let me be very clear, she is safe with me. I have never murdered anyone, nor have I ever raised a hand against a woman. I have had to defend myself a time or two, it comes with the job, but never with excessive force."

Steve stairs Ewen down for a moment before grunting acknowledgment of the reprimand and changing the subject. "You were going to tell me about some dead relative," he says to Elizabeth.

Ewen relaxes back into his chair and reaches for Elizabeth's hand, this time he rests their locked hands on top of the table, in plain sight of Steve. He asks Elizabeth, "Did Mrs. Frankweiler's friend send you that information?"

"Yes, soon after you left. He sent recent photos of the crest, as found around London. One of the crests is on a shipping building. The same one owned by Stijn Hardij. Most of the information he sent will be of interest to the history center but doesn't pertain to our family. He couldn't find anything on Hardij. No it's my cousin-in-law who sent me the really interesting stuff."

"Simone's been working on a family history for her kids. She wants them to know about their Grandfather Steve's family, even though he's only their grandfather by adoption. Anyway, Grams told her about my research and she's going to start focusing on Stijn's branch of the family. Turns out she knows the current Lord Abernathy, they serve on a foundation together."

"She called him and asked about the shipping business. He did some research in his family's private library and called her back. He said that the partnership lasted until around the War of 1812. The partners feuded and they sold the business during the war. They sold it to a private broker. It wasn't until after the sale that the Abernathy's learned the buyers were Russian. I give you one guess as to which family bought it."

Both Steve and Ewen say at the same time, "Cassadine."

"Yep. Not only that but the Hardij who sold the business left England for Greece."

"Well that explains it. Helena is just playing with you. She knows that her family bought out one of our family businesses and is taunting you."

"I don't know Steve. It seems a little far fetched. Helena wouldn't care enough about something like that, our family is beneath the Cassadines after all."

"But she thought Aiden was a Cassadine. You said she originally tried giving you the box. Maybe the fob was in it the entire time."

"I'm almost curious enough to have Nikolas ask her. Not that I'd trust what she says. Lord Abernathy told Simone that he found no record of the shipping business ever owning Spoon Island. He doesn't know why the crest would be on the building."

Ewen speculates, "The fireplace mantel could have been newer than that wing of the house. Maybe the Cassadine's added the mantel after they bought the island."

Elizabeth replies, "But they haven't owned the island long enough."

Ewen rejoinders, "That anyone knows."


	17. Family Complications

**Part 17 - Family Complications  
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Nikolas turns off the computer and goes to tuck Spencer in for the night. His conversation with Elizabeth has given him a lot to think about, and to do.

"Was it a good day Spencer?"

"Yes. I'm glad I got to talk to Cameron tonight. I miss him."

"I know you do bud. He misses you too."

"Could we go home Dad? I want to go with Cam to the history center and see all the swords and bayonets. I want to swim with him. He shouldn't have to race Emma, she's a girl."

Nikolas laughs. "Hold on now, you've just asked me several questions at once. First, this is our home, one of them at least. Second, there's nothing wrong with swimming with girls. Someday you'll want to do it."

"Never. Girls aren't as fast as boys."

"They can be, and some girls can swim faster than some boys."

"I don't believe you."

"One day I'll be proven right and I hope I'm there to see your reaction. Now, go to sleep, you have to get up early if you want to go fishing with Petros."

"Are you coming with us? Petros will only speak to me in Greek."

"If you want me to I'll come along, but on one condition we'll all only speak Greek."

"That's alright if you're with me. Goodnight Dad."

"Night son."

Nikolas leaves his son's room and heads to his office. He picks up the house phone and calls Alfred. "Alfred, call Ms. Kappas and tell her I can't make our date this evening. … I know, she'll never forgive me. Maybe that's what I'm hoping for, then she'll take her matrimonial wishes elsewhere. … Good night Alfred and thank you."

He pours himself a glass of his finest single malt and sits down at his desk. He opens the secret drawer and pulls out a photo, one he doesn't like to look at but is loath to throw away. He gently rubs his finger over the sleeping Aiden, held lovingly in Elizabeth's arms. He can't bare to look at himself in the photo, he was happy when it was taken.

Elizabeth had agreed to move into Wyndemere and to give their family a chance. The chance lasted far too briefly; not that Nikolas ever believed anything would come of it, he hoped but he couldn't really believe, not while she was still hung up on Lucky. Nikolas feared he would lose Elizabeth to Lucky, but he believed he would still have his son, Aiden.

"My son, Spencer's brother. That fantasy ended far to soon." The loss of Elizabeth hurts a bit less with the passing of time, but he still can't fully accept that Aiden isn't his son. Elizabeth is careful to never mention Aiden unless Nikolas brings him up first. He knows that she avoids the subject thinking it will hurt too much, and she's right, but it hurts worse not to see hear of him.

Tonight Aiden was on the Skype call. Nikolas could see how big he's gotten and how well he's walking now. When Elizabeth took Aiden away for a nap, Cameron told Spencer and Nikolas all about his new friend Ewen and how much time Ewen has been spending with Elizabeth. It hurt to hear about the new man in Elizabeth's life but it hurt worse to hear how much Aiden likes Ewen.

Nikolas can handle Lucky being Aiden's father, because he has to, but he's jealous of the stranger who gets to spend time with Aiden, Cameran, and if he allows himself to admit it, Elizabeth. He lied when he told Lucky and Elizabeth that Elizabeth was just a replacement for Emily. He lied to protect himself and to make his leaving easier on Elizabeth.

He puts the photo away and picks up his cell phone. His first call is to Alexis. "Tell me about the man that rented Wyndemere."

His second call is to a contact in Interpol. "It's Cassadine. … I am calling in a favor. I want to know everything there is to know about a Doctor Ewen Keenan. He's a psychologist living in Port Charles, NY. He's formerly from Australia. … Yes, everything and as soon as possible."

His third call is to leave a message for Helena. "Hello Grandmother. It has been awhile since you've paid Spencer and me a visit. I'm expecting you at Cassadine Island this weekend. Do come."

His fourth call is an overdue return call. "Lovett, I understand from Alfred that you've been wanting to meet with me. You can have your meeting. I'll be at the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki in two days. I can't have you on the island, Helena is coming and as much as I may like her dead, she is my grandmother and I won't allow you to harm her, certainly not on my property."

"Damn it Elizabeth, what have you gotten yourself into," he wonders as he downs the last of his Scotch and heads to the stables for a relaxing late night right.

Back at Wyndemere, Ewen gets an alert that he needs to contact Jones. "Damn it," he thinks, "I was supposed to meet Elizabeth."

He calls her to tell her he'll be late and heads to the secure room. Jones informs him that Interpol is checking into him.

"Nikolas Cassadine must finally be aware of my existence."

"That's what we think. The problem is that the Interpol agent looking into you had high enough clearance to figure out you're more than just a psychiatrist."

"I don't think it will be a problem. Lovett contacted me to report that he's meeting with Cassadine soon. The problem will be contained."

"Good to hear it. One more thing. Your father is heading state side. He wants to meet with you and it's not a request."

"Order noted sir." Ewen signs off and goes to his car. He looks at the wrapped package in the back seat and hopes that the finished painting doesn't mean his relationship with Elizabeth is finished too.


End file.
